Safranin O

Dimethyl safranin

Trimethyl safranin

Property Data
Common name
Suggested name
Other names
C.I. number
C.I. name
Class
Ionisation
Solubility aqueous
Solubility ethanol
Absorption maximum
 
Colour
Empirical formula
 
Formula weight
 
 Safranin
Safranin O
–
50240
Basic red 2
Safranin
Basic
5.45%
3.41%
530 (Conn, Aldrich)
517 (Gurr)
Red
C20H19N4Cl (Dimethyl)
C21H21N4Cl (Trimethyl)
350.8 (Dimethyl)
364.9 (Trimethyl)

Safranin O is a mixture of the two compounds shown according to Conn. Aldrich and Gurr give only the dimethyl compound.

Safranin O is most commonly used for counterstaining nuclei red. In medical histotechnology it has little other use, although it has been used as a metachromatic method for cartilage, which is stained yellow.

 

Reference
R. D. Lillie.
Conn's Biological Stains
Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD., U.S.A.

Edward Gurr, (1971)
Synthetic dyes in biology, medicine and chemistry
Academic Press, London, England.

Aldrich chemical catalogue, 1992
Aldrich Chemical Company, Milwaukee, WI, USA.

 


 
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Last updated May 2005.